The 1890s brought boom years to the nascent Aussie wine industry, as connoisseurs throughout Europe and the Empire were introduced to the Dionysian delights of new world Claret by Tyrrell, St Huberts and Wirra Wirra. An enterprising family of Scots took heed of the times to plant grapevines on a uniquely auspicious block in Valley Clare, they called it St Andrew and produced forty vintages of the most sensational quality Claret until the 1930s. The Taylor family acquired the fallow farm in 1995 and brought St Andrew's vines back to life. The treasured block endures as home to the flagship range of Taylor wines, one of the most distinguished vineyards in all Australia. St Andrew's Cabernet was adjudicated by Union de la Sommellerie Française as Best Cabernet.. *according to the french»

Xavier Bizot can make wine anywhere he pleases, he is a Bollinger and grew up amongst the Vignobles Superieurs of Champagne. Bizot has chosen to make wine alongside Brian Croser's family, from grapes harvested off three magnificent sites, on two paradoxically varied terrains. Planted to the salubrious Terra rosa soils atop an invaluable archeological dig at Wrattonbully, rich with the undisturbed fossils of ancient Cenozoic sea animals, Crayeres Vineyard was established right across the road from Tapanappa's illustrious Whalebone. The weather here is astonishingly similar to Bordeaux and makes an awesome Cabernet Franc. Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser are also fortunate to take their pick of properties in Adelaide Hills. To wit, Charles (Chilly) Hargrave's.. The twin tales of terre a terre»

Major Sir Thomas Mitchell left more than just an invaluable bequeth of our nation's most detailed frontier maps. Mitchell distinguished himself in Wellington's army during the Napoleonic wars in the renowned 95th Baker Rifles. A gifted draftsman, he found his way to the nascent colonies of Australia, where his acumen at mapmaking won him the office of Surveyor General. During one of Mitchell's historical expeditions, he charted the fertile lands around Victoria's Goulburn Valley, establishing the colonial fruitgrowing township of Mitchell's Town. The district's auspicious orchards flourished until Colin Preece identified the region as an opportune place to grow world class wine. Vineyards thusly planted around the Goulburn billabongs, came to be known as.. Barriques between the billabongs»

One of the closely guarded secrets which remained cardinal to the preeminence of Grange Hermitage, was the sacred tally of exceptional vineyards which were called on to provide fruit for the new world's most stately Shiraz. The elite Grange Growers Club is one of the nation's more exclusive fellowships, an illustrious canon of distinguished wine growing families which are the stuff of Australian viticultural history. One of McLaren Vale's most eminent dynasties, Oliver's of Taranga were an essential inclusion into many of the mighty Grange's most memorable vintages. Oliver Taranga's estate flagship HJ Reserve Shiraz represents peerless value for a wine of its provenance, power, persistence and depth, $50.99 and drinking sensationally... A principal part of the great grange»

Some precious old blocks of ancient vine Grenache still remain after a government sponsored program to cull unproductive vineyards during the 1980s. Yielding excruciatingly small harvests of the most characterful fruit, these wizzened old veterans deliver small batch vintages which are evocative of the old world classics from Cotes du Rhone. The enduring Wirra Wirra were established 1894, their eclectic range belies the splendour of small parcels which are separately handled and bottled for exclusive release. The Absconder draws fruit from vines planted a century ago, it merits a breathing and decant, an articulation about the sublime excellence of old vine Australian Grenache... The compelling case for old vines grenache»

Established 1973, Woodlands of Wilyabrup were one of the first vineyards in Margaret River, planted with a view to emulating the great growths of Bordeaux. Recipients of the highly prestigious Jack Mann Memorial Medal and Wine Industry Lifetime Achievement Award for their tremendous vintages of all things Cabernet. Assembling the rich Medoc style blends are what Woodlands do best. Painstakingly crafted by hand, to challenge the primacy of the illustrious Chateaux de la rive gauche, very few vineyards yield the quality of fruit that merits vintaging into a statuesque wine dominated by the prettily fragrant Cabernet Franc. Woodlands were established from the ground up with a view to achieving limited harvests of the abstruse Bordeaux varietals, only a few hundred cases of good red wine per vintage. Two precious.. The complex bordeaux blend by one of margaret river's founding wineries»